| Chapter 50 Nick and Leighanne walked back into the living room. "Hey Nick, you feeling better already?" Howie asked. "Um guys, I need to talk to all of you about something," Nick said. Kevin noticed how nervous Nick seemed, "Is something wrong?" Nick looked down, "Yeah, something is wrong." Everyone exchanged concerned and confused glances. Nick sat down in one of the recliners facing everyone. He looked at each person before he started. "I've been thinking of a way to say this, but there is no good way, so I'm just gonna say it and get it over with," Nick said, "Guys, I've been lying to all of you since I woke up in the hospital. I never lost my memory." "What?!" Kevin said. "Nick, what do you mean by that?" Howie asked. "Why?" Kristin asked. Lyn said nothing, she stared at him with a shocked look on her face. "So this is what you didn't tell me?" A.J. said. Nick nodded to him, then looked at everyone else. "I never wanted to do this, but it was the only way to keep everyone safe," he said. "Safe? Safe from what?" Kevin asked. Nick took a deep breath, "From Aleisha." Kevin and Howie exchanged skeptical glances. "Nick, why would you have to protect us from her?" Howie asked. "Cause she's the one that tried to kill me," he stated. Kevin stared at him in disbelief, "Nick, that little woman couldn't hurt a fly." "Kevin, she's not what you think she is," Nick said, "She is the one that attacked me. I remember every detail of it, from when she pushed me into the mirror, to hitting me with Brian's baseball bat, to pushing me down the stairs! She laughed at me Kevin, then she took one of those damn candle sticks and hit me with it!" Lyn was looking at him, disbelief in her eyes, but also horror at the thought that what Nick was saying could be true. "Nick, if she did that, how come you didn't stop her?" Howie asked. "I couldn't," Nick said, "She's not human guys. She had some serious strength, and I couldn't fight her." "Wait, hold on a sec. What do you mean she's not human?" Kira asked. "She's a siren," Nick said. Kira laughed, "Nick, sirens aren't real. They are mythological creatures." Nick shook his head, "She's real, and I have proof." "What kind of proof?" Kevin asked. Nick looked over at A.J. A.J. got up and put the cd in the player. "Guys, I recorded some of one of our get togethers, and Leighanne and A.J. took the recording to the studio," Nick said. "We had the tech pull all the voices off and get to the noise in the background. That's when we found this," Leighanne said. Nick pulled his hearing aid out, while Leighanne and A.J. held their ears. Nick hit the play button, watching as everyone listened. He could tell when they had gotten to the song. Everyone's eyes glazed over, and they all seemed to be in some sort of trance. Nick turned the cd off and put his aid back in. Leighanne unplugged her ears and looked around, "You know, if this wasn't so serious, we could have some real fun with this." Nick laughed, "Only you would think of that." "Looks like A.J. didn't plug his ears good enough," Leighanne commented, seeing A.J. in the same shape as everyone else. "Well let's wake them up," Nick said, walking over to Kevin and shaking him. Leighanne walked over to A.J., "Alex, snap out of it," she said, shaking him violently. He blinked his eyes and looked around, "Damn, I didn't even hear it." Leighanne smiled at him, "Well some part of you did. Help me wake the others." After everyone was brought back from their trance, Nick got their attention. "That is why I pretended to have amnesia. She's been controlling everyone since she showed up," he said. "But why doesn't it work on you?" Howie asked. "My aid can't process that frequency, I can't hear it," Nick answered, "But that doesn't mean that I'm immune to her." "You mean she can control you some other way?" Kevin asked. Nick nodded his head, "By touch." "Damn," Kristin said. "My thoughts exactly," Kira commented. Nick watched as everyone processed what he'd told them. Lyn had been very quiet, and he tried to read her face, but couldn't. "Guys, Aleisha was suspicious of me ever since I woke up. She thought that I was up to something, and that Lee was helping me. That's when she sabotaged Lee's car and tried to kill her," Nick said. A.J. looked over at him, "Nick, you know that's not right. I'm the one that messed up Lee's car." "You what?!" Kevin said, shocked. "A.J. how could you?" Howie asked. A.J. hung his head, "She got to me. When I went shopping with you girls, she cornered me in the dressing rooms, and ...." Leighanne reached over and took A.J.'s hand, comforting him. "I couldn't fight her, I didn't want to. What I was feeling was like nothing I've ever felt in my life, and I craved it. She used that to make me do things," A.J. said. "What things?" Kira asked. "She had me spying on Lee, then messing up her car, and then she wanted to go after Lyn," A.J. said. Lyn looked at him, "Me? Why me?" "Because she has feelings for me now, and you were in the way," Nick answered, staring at her. Lyn looked at him shocked, realizing what he'd done to protect her. "You broke up with me to protect me?" she asked. Nick nodded, not taking his eyes away from hers, "Lyn, I love you so much. I couldn't let her hurt you." "Nick, we have to call the police," Kevin said, reaching for the phone. "NO!" Nick yelled, slapping Kevin's hand away from the device. "Kevin, think about it. If she can control all of you, what makes you think she can't control the police?" Nick said, "Calling them will only do one thing." "What's that?" Kira asked. "Sign my death warrant, along with yours," Nick pointed out. "So what are we gonna do? We have to get Brian away from her," Lyn said. Nick smiled and looked at them, "I have a plan." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Aleisha sat on the couch staring blankly at the TV. Brian looked over at her, "I'm going to bed, you coming?" "Naw, I think I'll stay up a little while," she said. Brian looked disappointed, "You sure?" She smiled at him, "I won't be long. You go ahead." "OK," he said, dejected. He slowly climbed the stairs and disappeared into his room. Aleisha sighed and looked at the book laying on the coffee table. She reached over and picked it up, looking at it. "How can they believe in a book?" she asked herself. She thought back to what Nick had told her the night before, about him feeling better after having read it. What did she have to lose? It was a book, it couldn't hurt her. Aleisha shrugged her shoulders and opened the book, and began reading. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Nick, are you insane?" Kevin asked. "No," Nick said, feeling offended. "But what if Brian doesn't believe us?" Howie asked. "He will, cause he's gonna see it for himself," Nick said. "I don't like the idea of leaving you alone with her, especially when you say that she has feelings for you," Kevin said. "Well, it's better than when she hated my guts. At least now I can talk to her without her using her powers on me, that's an advantage Kev," Nick said. "Yeah, but one that's not gonna last to long when she realizes what you're doing," he said. "Kev, I've thought about this for a long time. If there was any other way I'd be doing it, but there's not. This is the only way, and I'm the one that has to do it," Nick stated. "Nick, you said she can control you by touch. What if she gets control of you? Then aren't we just trading Brian for you?" Kira asked. Nick sighed, "I'm going to do everything I can for that not to happen, but if it does, you guys get Brian and get outta there." "Hell no, we are not leaving you," A.J. said. "You won't be leaving me. Tracy and Jade have been with me since the beginning, if that happens you guys get out, they will help me," Nick said. "I don't like this," Lyn said, staring at him. Nick looked at her but didn't say anything. "So you think this will work? That when Brian rejects her she'll just up and leave?" Howie asked, still skeptical of the plan. "She told me so herself when she first got here. I believe she sought out Brian for a reason, probably because he was an easy target with what had just happened to him," Nick said. "You don't think she really was working for the forestry service?" Kristin asked. "I know she wasn't," Nick said, pulling the letter out of his pocket, "They've never heard of her before." Kevin looked at the letter, then looked up at Nick, "You certainly did your homework." "I had to. I knew it was going to be hard to convince you guys, I had to have everything I could," Nick said. "Well we are definitely convinced," Kira said. "Yeah, when I get my hands on that bitch...." A.J said. Nick glared at him, "No A.J. you will do no such thing." A.J. looked at him, "Nick, she deserves to be..." "I know. Trust me, I've thought of lots of ways to make her pay for what she did to me, but I have to do this. You guys are a liability to me, and I can't have her getting control of one of you and using you against me," Nick said. Kevin stared at Nick for a moment, "Why do I get the feeling that you aren't telling us everything?" Nick bit his lower lip and looked around the room, "Guys, you are just gonna have to trust that I know what I'm doing." "Nick, what about us?" Kira asked. He looked at her, "I need you here, praying," he said. "Nick, I'm not gonna stay here while you're off facing that monster," Lyn said. "Lyn, please. This is gonna be hard for me as it is. I need you here where I know you're safe. I can't do what I have to if I know that you're there," Nick pleaded. Lyn and Kevin looked at each other, knowing Nick wasn't telling them everything he had planned. "So are we settled?" Nick asked. Kevin shook his head, "I still have concerns about this." "Kev, it will work," Nick said. "But what if..." Lyn started. Nick put his hand up, "It will work" Howie looked over at the clock, "Guys, if we are gonna do this in the morning, we all need to get some rest." "Yeah, we're gonna need it," Kira said. "D, do you mind if we stay here?" Kevin asked. "Are you kidding? I wasn't going to let you leave," he said. Everyone laughed. Howie and Kira got up, going to ready a bedroom for Kevin and Kristin. A.J. and Leighanne said their good nights and headed to their perspective rooms. Nick looked at Lyn, "I am so sorry for what I put you through." She reached over and took his hand, pulling him up, "Let's go to my room and talk." They headed up the stairs and into the room. Kevin and Kristin looked at one another. "I hope they work things out," Kristin said. Kevin smiled, "They will. I just hope we don't have the room next to them." Kristin laughed and slapped Kevin's arm, "That's not nice, but come to think of it, I hope we don't either." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Aleisha threw the book on the coffee table and got up, turning out the lights. She headed upstairs, feeling more lost than she was before. Nothing in that book gave her comfort, but everything in it scared her. She couldn't understand how any of that made anyone feel better about anything. She silently walked into the bedroom, seeing Brian fast asleep in bed. She sighed and walked over to the window, looking out. It was a cloudy night, no stars could be seen. She wished they had brought Nick home with them, she really needed to talk to him. The look in his eyes still haunted her, and she knew that if she were to have him, she needed to do it soon. "It's the only way," she said to herself. She knew that Nick had feelings for her, she could see it in his smile. She hated what she was thinking, but she had to take him before he remembered everything and hated her guts. Aleisha knew what she was thinking could very well be her end, but she didn't care. She was willing to give up her life, for a few moments of true happiness. She leaned against the window, pressing her forehead onto the cold glass. She closed her eyes, "It has to be tomorrow, I can't wait any longer," she whispered. Chapter 51 |